FOLEY, Ala. | Sarah Gooch led South Alabama with 12 kills, but it wasn't enough as the Jaguars were eliminated by Georgia Southern in the quarterfinal round of the Sun Belt Conference Championship held at the Foley Event Center as the Eagles picked up a 3-0 win (25-22, 25-19, 28-26) Friday night.

With the loss, South Alabama finishes the 2024 season with a 15-12 record, while Georgia Southern improves to 21-5, and advances to Saturday's semifinals where it will take on Arkansas State.

Dalayla Blackwell had six kills, while Abryanna Cannon and Maradith O'Gorman had five kills each. O'Gorman also had two service aces and a team-high six block assists. Anna Loberg recorded her 10th double-double of the season with 31 assists and 14 digs. Briana Wilson led the club with 16 digs, while Cannon also recorded double-figures with 10 digs of her own.

Reagan Barth led the Eagles offensively with 11 kills, and nearly recorded a double-double as she had nine digs. Maggie Sale led all players with seven total blocks – one solo and six assists, while Jillian Gray (six assists) and Lydia Seymour (two solo-four assists) had six total. As a team, Georgia Southern held a 15.0-11.0 advantage and held South to a .079 hitting percentage.

Quotable – head coach Jesse Ortiz
- On the match: "We just didn't play clean enough tonight, and we had way too many hitting errors. Georgia Southern did a tremendous job playing defense against us and squeezing us down when we were in our two-hitter rotations. There was a lot of fight out of our group. I love their tenacity, they never give up, and they haven't all season. I'm very proud of them. Hats off to Georgia Southern; its their night tonight."

How It Happened 
Set 1 – Georgia Southern 25, South Alabama 22
•    South Alabama got off to a quick start in the opening set, rattling off four of the first five points, which was capped off by a block by O'Gorman and Lillie Simons, who had four block assists in the match
•    After the Eagles narrowed the Jag lead to one, Gooch slammed home a kill and posted a solo block to stretch the lead back out to 11-7
•    Georgia Southern later took its first lead (13-12) after three-straight blocks – two assists and one solo by Sale – capping off a 6-1 spurt
•    South led 15-14 at the media time out after a kill by O'Gorman, but the Eagles took control of the set over the next eight points, reeling off a 7-1 
•    Paige Powers led the run with three kills and a solo block, which gave GS at five-point lead (21-16)
•    Trailing 23-17, the Jaguars mounted a charge scoring three-straight points to cut the deficit in half
•    Loberg and Gooch had a kill, and O'Gorman and Aniston Cochran teamed up for a block to narrow the Eagle lead to 23-20
•    Georgia Southern was able to hand on and take the set (25-22) and the early match lead after a kill by Barth

Set 2 – Georgia Southern 25, South Alabama 19
•    South Alabama led 6-4 early on in the second set after a kill by Simons, but Seymour ignited a 11-1 run for the Eagles with a solo block, and Kristen Barrett capped off the scoring with her second ace of the set to give GS a 15-8 advantage 
•    The Eagles led by seven (19-12) after a Jaguar attack error, but South Alabama trimmed the deficit to four with three straight points
•    Coming out of a time out, Georgia Southern quickly regained momentum as Powers started run of three-unanswered points for the Eagles with a kill 
•    GS led 23-15, but after an Eagle serving error, Blackwell recorded a kill and teamed up with Gooch for a block to trim the deficit to five
•    That was as close as the Jags got in the set as Georgia Southern went on to take a 2-0 lead in the match with the 25-19 second-set win

Set 3 – Georgia Southern 28, South Alabama 26
•    Holding a one-point lead, Georgia Southern pushed across three of the next four points to take a three-point lead (11-8) after a kill by Barth
•    South Alabama though rallied back over the next three points to tie the set back up (11-11) after a block assists by Simons and O'Gorman 
•    Tied at 12-12 two points later, the Eagles pushed across four of the next five points to stretch their lead back out to three
•    South run trailed 16-13, 
•    Trailing by three (16-13), the Jaguars battled back and Gooch ignited a 9-1 Jaguar run over the next 10 points
•    South tied the set back up (16-16) after kills by Gooch and Blackwell and a Georgia Southern attack error
•    Three points later, South Alabama took its first lead of the set (18-17) after blocks by Blackwell and O'Gorman
•    Blackwell later recorded a solo block and Gooch slammed home a kill, and after a bad set by the Eagles, the Jaguars led 22-17 
•    Gooch and Blackwell each had two kills during the run, while Blackwell also had two blocks
•    The Jags held a 23-19 lead after a kill by O'Gorman, but Georgia Southern answered right back with a run of four-straight points, tying the set back up (23-23) after a kill by Gray
•    South had a chance to extend the match, twice holding set point, but the Eagles fought off both opportunities and with the set tied at 26, Seymour and Gray teamed up for a block to put GS at match point
•    Seymour – who had five total blocks on the final set – then teamed up with Jordan on the next point for another block to end the match

Post-Match Notes
•    The meeting marked the 22nd in the all-time series and the second (2023) in postseason play
•    The loss snapped a nine-match, series win streak for the Jaguars
•    Blackwell has had five or more kills in 10 of her last 13 
•    Cannon has also had nine or more digs in 17 of her last 20 matches, including 11 of her last 12 in double figures
•    Loberg has had a double-double in eight of her last 12, and ended the season with over 1,000 assists
•    Gooch has recorded nine or more kills in 17 of her last 21 matches, including 14 of her last 16, and 13 in double figures over the 21-match stretch
•    O'Gorman has had three or more blocks in 12 of her last 18 matches, and totaled 57 total blocks over that stretch
•    Wilson has recorded 15 or more digs in 18-straight 

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